Manufacturing cell for the treatment of grinding and wheel set testing and procedures for the operation of the manufacturing cell

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing cell for the treatment of grinding of gear wheel flanks, in particular by bevel pinions, and suggested for the wheel set testing, which includes a grinding machine ( 1 ), an unreeling test equipment ( 2 ), a laser inscription unit ( 3 ) with a time band ( 5 ) and a robot-supported load system ( 4 ), which are concatenated with one another and controllable that the process of pinion loops/wheel set examining/marking and the correction of the grinding machine attitude as a function of the results of the unreeling examination is feasible.

The invention at hand concerns a manufacturing cell for the treatment ofgrinding and for wheel set testing in accordance with the generic termof the patent claim 1. Moreover the invention refers to a procedure forthe operation of the manufacturing cell according to the invention.

Such manufacturing cells serve for the treatment of grinding of gearwheel flanks, for example, at bevel pinions, as well as the noisetesting of bevel gearsets, in particular for automobile applications.

It is aimed at keeping the quality and optimizing economy or productionsystems and/or manufacturing cells constant. From DE 101 22 318 A1, forexample, a procedure and a device for the computation of qualitycapability parameters are well known. Here a digital processing systemis used in the framework of which an applicable distribution time modelis selected electronically from several distribution time models,whereby the distribution time model describes, at least temporally, achanging average value of the measured values or temporally a changingdispersion of the measured values. Subsequently, the quality abilitycharacteristics are computed electronically as a function of thestatistical methods, which determine the estimated values forcharacteristics of the distribution time model and indicate suitablemechanisms.

From the state of the art are the working and/or test equipments of thetreatment of the grinding of gear wheel flanks, in particular from bevelpinions and/or well-known for wheel set examination, whereby theproduction run consists usually of the following work procedures:

-   Pinion teeth loops;-   Pairs, i.e., unreeling examination of different pinion installation    distances;-   Definition of the installation distance for assembly by the machine    operator, and-   Necessary knowledge of manual correction of the grinding attitudes    by the operator with inspection results outside of the given    tolerance.

Here the arrangement of the necessary machines is resolved differentlyin relation to each other. Known are 1:1 allocations of grinding andtest equipment with manual operation of the test equipment as well asseparate arrangements.

With the proceeding, develops the disadvantage that by the manualoperational sequence of the distancing of the wheel set and with thecorrection of the grinding machine, personnel capacity is needed andstressed. Improper distances can develop due to operator dependence,which again results, in a more disadvantageous way, in load-carryingcapacity and noise problems.

Operator dependence can also by lengthy correction—preparation times(manual grinding machine correction) lead to productivity losses. Afurther disadvantage consists of the fact that no automated statisticprocessing is possible concerning noise, since no regulation mechanismsexist.

The invention at hand is the basis of the task, a manufacturing cell forthe treatment of the grinding of gear wheel flanks, in particular forbevel pinions and for wheel set examination by which the disadvantagesmentioned of the state of the art are avoided. In particular, thenecessary personnel capacity is to be reduced and continuous qualitywith high productivity is to be ensured. Moreover, a procedure for theoperation of the manufacturing cell according to the invention. is to beindicated.

This task is solved for a manufacturing cell by the characteristics ofpatent claim 1. A procedure for the operation of the manufacturing cellis the subject of patent claim 3. Further arrangements and advantages ofthe invention emerge in the sub claims.

A manufacturing cell becomes the treatment of the grinding of gear wheelflanks, in particular from bevel pinions, and suggested for the wheelset examination, which covers the bevel gear—grinding machine, bevelgear—unreeling examination machine, a laser inscription unit and a loadsystem, which are concatenated with one another and in such acontrollable manner that the process of pinion loops/wheel settesting/marking and the correction of the grinding machine attitude as afunction of the results of the unreeling examination is operable.Preferably, the load system is implemented with robot support; themanufacturing cell according to the invention also exhibits a time band.

The manufacturing cell encloses, according to the invention, a controlunit into which a database is integrated, in which the code-dependenttolerances and the inspection results as well as the met test decisionand the dissociation position entered.

With the help of this production system, it is possible due to thecalculation methods used to statistically specify the test frequency ofthe wheel set automated as a self-regulating process whereby thedescribed disadvantages of operator dependence are avoided in afavorable way.

In accordance with the invention, the operator independence of the wheelset examination and the inscription is reached by the development of anevaluation strategy for the automatic definition of the optimalinstallation distance of the bevel pinion.

During the wheel set examination, the pinion in different assignedsituations and/or checkpoints is shifted with the crown wheel whereby,at each checkpoint, the function of the turning transmission (a flankrolling examination) and/or the oscillation intensity of the testequipment (structure-borne noise examination) is measured and evaluatedby way of a Fourier analysis. The measured amplitudes of the toleratedfrequency ranges are compared for given checkpoints by the machineoperator with the limit values. These operator-independent steps arerepresented in the context of the procedure according to the invention.

For this purpose, all code-dependent tolerances are entered into thedatabase of the control and are available online whereby the tolerancesare defined for the optimal installation dimensions which are not foundat absolute checkpoints as, for example, by a theoretical installationdimension +0.1 mm, but as a function.

In accordance with the invention, the test cycle is stopped in such away that the examination is accomplished for more checkpoints thanpositions are tolerated so that a variability of the possibledissociation positions and the increase of the probability for anoptimal result are obtained.

After conclusion of the unreeling examination, the inspection result isevaluated automatically. In addition, all measured checkpoints areexamined for their suitability as dissociation positions. If severaltest positions prove suitable as installation positions, the selectionis made by a variable definable evaluation size from the results ofmeasurement. For example, a measure can be consulted asminimally/maximally possible or the position with the smallest sum levelof definable orders as evaluation size.

The inspection result is entered afterwards together with the met testdecision and the dissociation position in a database. This data baseforms the basis for the following automatic correction of the grindingmachine and secures the traceability/documentation in the case of acustomer complaint.

Moreover, the determined installation dimension can be transferredautomatically to the inscription unit.

In accordance with the invention, in contrast to the state of the art,the grinding process with the regulation of the grinding processsuggested due to the geometrical characteristics of the produced teethprofile established by a 3D-measurement, takes place according tostatistical methods. With the conditions of the proceeding technology,the noise quality of a bevel gearset cannot always be guaranteed so thatadditionally the unreeling examination is accomplished. Due to theseresults, fine corrections are made by the grinding machine operator,which are based on his experience.

In the context of the grinding process, according to the invention, in acomputational analysis on the basis of a leverage numerical model thetheoretical connection between the correction of a machine axle and theeffect is determined by the harmonious meshing with differentinstallation distances. For this purpose, a simulation of themanufacturing process and the shifting examination is carried out. Withthe help of the theoretical leverage number matrix from process rulesoftware, the grinding machine is corrected automatically whereby, fromthe inspection result by means of the leverage number calculation, thenecessary machine correction is determined in order to achieve a definedtarget configuration for harmonious meshing. For the achievement of aself learning process, each leverage number is multiplied, according tothe invention, by an individual effect coefficient whereby thedetermination/adjustment of the effect coefficient takes placecontinuously by a comparison of the expected with the actually occurredeffect of the machine correction on the basis of the inspection resultsentered into the online database.

In the online database, deposited inspection results can be evaluatedstatistically by a program module and can be set in relation to theinterference. Thus in a favorable way, it is possible to automaticallyspecify the test frequency as a function of process stability.

The invention is more exemplarily described in the following on thebasis of the attached figure, which schematically represents a possiblearrangement of the substantial components of the manufacturing cellaccording to the invention.

In accordance with the figure, the manufacturing cell according to theinvention has a bevel gear—grinding machine 1, a bevel gear—unreelingtest machine 2, a laser inscription unit 3 with a time band 5 and apreferably robot-supported load system 4. The robot is given in thefigure as the reference symbol 6. The individual elements of themanufacturing cell are concatenated with one another and in such amanner that control by the control unit of the process pinionloops/wheel set examining/marking and the correction of the grindingmachines attitude as a function of the results of the unreelingexamination is automatically feasible, as already described.

According to the invention, automation of the manufacturing process isobtained through the development of methods for the automatic wheel setdissociation and grinding machine correction according to inspectionresults.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 bevel gear-grinding machine-   2 bevel gear-unreeling test machine-   3 laser inscription unit-   4 load system-   5 time band-   6 robot

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A manufacturing cell for treatment and grinding ofgear wheel flanks, in particular bevel pinions and for wheel settesting, the manufacturing cell comprising a bevel gear-grinding machine(1), a bevel gear-unreeling test equipment (2), a laser inscription unit(3) with a time band (5) and a robot assisted load system (4) areconcatenated with one another and controllable to automate a process forexamining and marking pinion loops and wheel sets and correcting agrinding machine attitude as a function of results of an unreelingexamination.
 17. The manufacturing cell according to claim 16, wherein adatabase is integrated into a control unit enclosure, the databasestoring code-dependent tolerance, inspection results, a met testdecision and dissociation position.
 18. A method for operating amanufacturing cell for treatment and grinding of gear wheel flanks, inparticular by bevel pinions and for wheel set testing, the manufacturingcell having a bevel gear grinding machine (1), bevel gear unreeling testequipment (2), a laser inscription unit (3) with a time band (5) and arobot assisted load system (4) which are concatenated with one anotherand controllable to automate a manufacturing process, the methodcomprising the step of: automatically processing pinion loops and wheelsets; automatically testing and marking pinion loops and wheel sets; andautomatically correcting grinding machine attitude as a function of aresult of an unreeling examination.
 19. The method for operating themanufacturing cell according to claim 18, further comprising the step ofstatistically specifying a test frequency of the wheel set andautomating test frequency of the wheel set as a self-regulating process.20. The method for operating the manufacturing cell according to claim18, further comprising the step of entering all code-dependenttolerances into a data base contained in a control unit to be availableonline and defining test positions as a function of the optimalinstallation dimension, belonging to the tolerances.
 21. The method foroperating the manufacturing cell according to claim 18, furthercomprising the step of stopping a test cycle in such a way that theunreeling examination is accomplished for more checkpoints thanpositions tolerated, so that a variability of possible dissociationpositions and an increase in probability for an optimal result areobtained.
 22. The method for operating the manufacturing cell accordingto claim 18, further comprising the step of automatically evaluating aninspection result of the unreeling examination.
 23. The method foroperating the manufacturing cell according to claim 22, furthercomprising the step of successively examining all measured checkpointsfor evaluation of the inspection results, for suitability asdissociation positions, whereby, if several test positions provesuitable as installation positions, selection is made by a variabledefinable evaluation size from results of measurements.
 24. The methodfor operating the manufacturing cell according to claim 23, furthercomprising the step of consulting an evaluation size asminimum/maximally possible a measure or position with the smallest sumlevel of definable orders.
 25. The method for operating themanufacturing cell according to claim 23, further comprising the step ofentering the inspection result, the met test decision and thedissociation position into the database.
 26. The method for operatingthe manufacturing cell according to claim 23, further comprising thestep of automatically transferring a determined installation dimensionto the inscription unit.
 27. The method for operating the manufacturingcell according to claim 18, further comprising the step of usingstatistical methods for carrying out the grinding process.
 28. Themethod for operating the manufacturing cell according to claim 27,further comprising the step of determining in a computational analysison a basis of a leverage numerical model, in context of the grindingprocess, a theoretical connection between correction of a machine axleand an effect for harmonious meshing with different installationdistances, whereby for this purpose a simulation of the manufacturingprocess and a shifting examination is accomplished, automaticallycorrecting the grinding machine with the help of the theoreticalleverage number matrix, and determining a necessary machine correctionwith a leverage number calculation from the inspection result, in orderto achieve a defined target configuration for harmonious meshing. 29.The method for operating the manufacturing cell according to claim 28,further comprising the step of multiplying each leverage number by anindividual effect coefficient to achieve a self learning process, one ormore of determining and adjusting the effect coefficients continuouslyby comparison of the expected effect with actual effect of machinecorrection on a basis of the inspection results entered into thedatabase.
 30. The method for operating the manufacturing cell accordingto claim 18, further comprising the step of statistically evaluating theinspection results deposited in the database by a program module and setin relation to interference borders, so that the test frequency isautomatically specified as a function of process stability.